Monday, 19 September 2011

The exams debate

So, I had a bit of a crisis.

Nah. Not social/sexual/psychological/marital/financial. I can have those any time, any day of the week. Not even worth mentioning. But this! This is a home educational crisis! My soul bleeds, wounded by home ed.

But I know these feelings. I've been here before.

Like, kid age 4. I packed the mini-humans into nursery. Or tried to. Six weeks fruitlessly persuading Tiger, Shark and Squirrel that they really wanted to sit in a room with a strange woman shaped like a fridge, lit by strip lights, and rearrange flashcards on a table. Oh yes.

Actually, they wanted to cavort outside in knickers and wellington boots while the sun shone merrily and the soil in the garden was just begging to be dug up and the holes filled with water.

The kids won, of course, by visceral means and direct action. Tiger clung to my ankles and bawled, Shark locked herself in the toilet, and Squirrel took off all her clothes in a brilliant, masterful, stroke of silent protest.

Or howabout the time I realised the error of my ways, kid age 7 through to 9. Not strictly a crisis then. More a prolonged, tortured struggle between child autonomy and mama structure. I had a great thing going in unit studies and themed weeks, but slowly it was whittled away by child-led preference.

For this period I'm still resisting the label autonomy in preference for the one which reads anarchy.

But this time, come age 11, I'm experienced enough in the ways of the home ed world to recognise the crisis as it happens.

The upshot is, Shark, Squirrel and Tiger are now on a weekly assignment list which includes working through an IGCSE Geography syllabus. It has been a sort of seismic shift of thinking; we have all made demands, outlined ambitions, swapped mentalities and Shark threatened me with a good hiding.

The very useful home ed exams yahoo group is holding my hand and giving me a cuddle, Dig agreed to buy 200 more computers, and I have come out of hiding from the bedroom to sit at the dining table, outlining key points about Malthus.

Much to my surprise, one month in, I can report our new style of home ed is still working very well. Each week I email a list of assignments in the spirit of 'don't care when you do them, but this is what you can do if you want'; Tiger declares it all good fun, Shark says it suits her timetable perfectly, and Squirrel sometimes gets dressed.

Well, all of this shows a thing or ten. That in home ed we can all take comfort from the experience of others. That I do not expect adventures in the woods to end anytime soon. That home ed in any form can work if the kids want it and enjoy it. That I'm still not in charge. And what great exam resources you can find on the internet.

Other stuff

We have educated triplet girls to age 16 by never sending them to school.

At age 16, one daughter is now at 6th form for A levels, so you can find out about culture clash.

The other two daughters are taking a year to think what they want to do next, because we run at our own pace.If you are looking for primary, try the archives under 2011 or 2012. Ideas? Try Seven days with elephants.

Secondary home ed? Try 2012 or 2014 through to 2016.

Exams made life boring for us all and the blog stopped for long periods so the home educated could concentrate on enjoying some teens.

From 2016, expect the blog to start concentrating on me, me, me, because it's my turn.

Home ed style: Secular, philosophical, eclectic, autonomous.

Exams: own choice IGCSE courses. The HE-exams group is a must-join. I gave formal lessons in nothing.

where is everybody?

This blog is a record of a home educationwrit for parents thinking about home edwrit for the LA who need an education about home edwrit for Grit's friends and relations who drop in once a yearand writ for Grit's sane and lovely mind.

The internal DCSF Consultation Report, made public 23 January. (pdf)In Annex A, 94% of respondents disagreed that the local authority should have the power to interview a home educated child alone.When this comes out Ed Balls' mouth in the Second Reading Debate, 94% against turns to:'The vast majority of parents would be happy to let that happen'(Hansard 11.01.10, Children, Schools and Families Bill, col 437.)

Love it or loathe it? The petition still broke a record.Press release in the Mirror, Channel4 news, the Guardian.

'Even if you don't currently see yourself home educating, you never know what the future might hold, and if a time comes when you find yourself needing to pull your child out of school, I hope the option is still available to you, and you don't regret thinking *it's nothing to do with me*.'

Read the Right to Reply'Home educators are renowned for their strong opinions and independent spirit. They come from all faiths and none. They have as many approaches to education as there are children. They rarely agree on anything. And yet they are remarkably united in their opposition to these proposals. There is great concern that their way of life will be legislated out of existence.'--Response to the Badman Review of Elective Home Education in England and reaction to the Select Committee hearing.

The problem with home educators is that they are impossible to define. The only things that links them is respect for their children. And did the state just stagger foolishly across that line?Are we sandal wearing tree huggers who let our kids run wild or control mad Jesus freaks who don't want them learning about sex and evolution? Are we hot housing or leaving them to watch TV and play computer games all day? -Firebird.The UK government suggested that we home educate our children to cover up our abuse.On that issue, would you like some statistics?

'The Department [for Children, Schools and Families] is aware that attempts are being made on the Internet to vilify and harass the author of the review. It is the Department's view that, whilst dealing with each request on its merits, this situation will have to be taken into account in dealing with any relevant FOI requests. ... we anticipate the need to consider whether it is in the public interest to release information likely to intensify any such campaign, or to lead to harassment or distress to individuals.'Hello DCSF. Vilify: to make vicious and defamatory statements about.Like putting it about that home educated children are abused by their parents? Isolated? Unsocialised? Denied an education?And the latest one, that their mothers have Munchhausen's Syndrome by Proxy, and benefit from their child's suffering.

... compulsory registration, entry to the home, inspection according to external standards, and power to see the child without the parent present.By implication this applies to anyone who has their child at home with them: particularly parents with under 5s, but also those with school-aged children who are at home in the evenings, over the weekends, and throughout the summer holidays. Think on: the possibility of parental inspection, with or without your presence, based on the very human whim of a local authority officer.Is that okay with you?Renegade Parent on the implications for all parents from the Badman review of home education.

'Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children'.(Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, Article 26.3)

Photos and text copyright Grit.This is Grit's blog. The pictures come from her broken phone camera, and they are hers by right.

The words too are Grit's, Grit's, all Grit's. This is not to say you cannot use any words that Grit uses - after all, she is the unhinged woman who once banned SOIL - but you just cannot lift them in the long, complex and lovely arrangements, like the ones Grit has writ.

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